Recently, the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was jointly awarded to Drs. John B. Gurdon and Shinya Yamanaka “for the discovery that mature cells can be reprogrammed to become pluripotent.” What does it mean to be pluripotent and why is it so important? Continue reading –>

Think heart failure is incurable? Think again. Regenerative medicine could restore an injured heart – just by an injection to the heart.

Regenerative medicine is an increasingly popular field in the health sciences. Whereas traditional regenerative medicine looked at embryonic stem cells, more and more researchers are investigating adult pluripotent stem cells (stem cells deriving from adult cells). One of the advantages of using adult pluripotent stem cells is that complications arising from rejection after transplant can be avoided if a person’s own cells are used. Furthermore, some researchers are interested in reprogramming adult cells directly into another cell type without the cells having to go through stem cell stage; this prevents the unwanted possibility of stem cells forming into tumors at the site of transplant. Continue reading –>